The new Black Keys album, Let’s Rock, is their first in a decade without Danger Mouse behind the board. For four straight records, the noted studio maestro named after a cartoon rodent spy served as producer or co-producer for the … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Let’s Rock
676. Wire, Kidney Bingos (1988) With the release of the EP Kidney Bingos, Wire reaffirmed they were back in the business of being a band. Eight long years passed without a significant new recorded release from the band before their … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #676 to #673
The Triumph and Tragedy of Woodstock’s Forgotten Album Producer by David Browne The fiftieth anniversary shabby clone version of the famed Aquarian Exposition hilariously collapsed this week, sparing the universe the weird embarrassment of current crummy bands trying desperately to … Continue reading Outside Reading — It’s Your Trip, So Be My Guest edition
Championing my personal pick for the best new song of the week has been an ongoing endeavor since the start of this calendar year, and I haven’t previously had such a difficult time settling on a selection. This week brought … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Pom Pom Squad, “Honeysuckle”
Over ten years has passed since the release of Consolers of the Lonely, the album from the the Raconteurs that is the direct predecessor of their latest, Help Us Stranger. Any reasonable music fan might have wondered if the band … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Help Us Stranger
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. The Sunday New York … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Garfunkel and Oates, “What’s Gonna Happen to Chris”
680. Robert Plant, The Principle of Moments (1983) The Principle of Moments, the second solo album by Robert Plant, finds the frontman of the revered, departed Led Zeppelin asserting a new creative identity with greater assurance. His first outing on … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #680 to #677
The Language I Learned From Cassettes by Ben Ratliff This remembrance of the golden days when cassette tapes were invaluable strikes strikes right at a nostalgic vein that I find irresistible. Ben Ratliff deploys well-chosen details to capture the bygone … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Revolution Will Be Recorded edition
A glimmering Ring Pop of a single, “I’ll Be Back Someday” could redeem high school poetry. If that task is realistically beyond the scope of any bouncy pop song (or, you know, the abilities of mere mortals), it at least … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Tegan and Sara, “I’ll Be Back Someday”
It starts with the guitar, a jackhammer line joined by a propulsive rhythm section beat. And then lead singer Marisa Dabice starts singing, her voice fierce and fragile at the same time as she delivers lyrics about a toxic relationship: “Who … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Patience
Coffee for Two 